VeChain (VEN) prices have risen by over 12% in the last 24 hours as anticipation of a big announcement sends community into frenzy. The cryptocurrency is one among several at this year’s Consensus 2018 in New York.

After the recent market-wide dip that threatened to undo April gains, the crypto rallied in the last 24 hours, mainly helped by the highly awaited announcement. As this happens, VEN’s prices are among only three assets in the top 15 that are trending in the green. The other two are Bytecoin (BCN) and Tether (USDT). Bearing in mind what has taken place with BCN in the last few days, and Tether’s stable nature, and then it’s only fair to say that VEN is the only asset trading in the green, gaining the double digits ahead of everyone else, including the leading pack of BTC, ETH, and XRP.

Why is VEN pumping?

The main reason could relate to a rumored upcoming announcement, expected to be made any time within the next few hours on May 15, 2018. Word on the VeChain’s social platforms put it down to an expected collaboration between the cryptocurrency and Circle, the cryptocurrency exchange that recently acquired Poloniex.

There hasn’t been any official word yet, but it’s likely the two could be waiting for the right moment to do so. Speculation even reached peak fever, as some users pointed to VeChain’s recent camouflage of colors- using the purple and green that many in the community associated with Circle. Here is the cause of the buzz.

That has got everybody talking, expecting the big announcement that Circle could be about to launch an exchange powered by VeChain’s THOR.

The community has been quick to create connections based on the choice of colors for the two companies at Consensus 2018. Here is what one said:

“No question the colors vechain chose on the back cover of consensus mag. Are the exact same colors in the new Circle logo. Green on one side purple on the other. I do believe Circle used the same colors before, so Vechain purposely chose the same color combination. Way too many coincidences now. I’d say 100% there’s a link between Vechain and Circle. Might not be announced at Consensus, but I have seen and it is coming!”

However, some users have urged caution, as it might turn out to just that: rumors. One Reddit user had this to say about the whole matter.

“The big speculation is about circles use for Vechain. If circle decides to host their big exchange project on Vechains platform, to be powered by THOR, it would be absolutely groundbreaking

I caution against such speculation though. I would rather be pleasantly surprised than having the highest expectations based on speculation…”

Expectations are high, as Circle is slated to present ahead of VeChain, though Sunny Lu, is also at the conference. While all these could be put down to investor speculation, it points to a growing realization that VeChain could be about to get bigger, with THOR expected to play a big role in the coin’s future.

VeChain THOR mainnet

The rumor doing rounds about Circle and VeChain has a lot to do with VeChain THOR and its token VET. It is expected that it will be launched somewhere before the end of June.

VeChain THOR is designed to work with VET, allowing holders access to the Vechain ecosystem. VET will be used by holders when dealing with dApps and smart contracts. The token will be useful to developers when they are creating and deploying smart contracts.

The importance of VET tokens to the network cannot be overstated, as they will practically be needed for any future dApps or SC on the platform. They will also help push the value of VEN, demand for VET coinciding with the rise in the price of the coin. That’s why it’s important to have many users on the ecosystem using the token.

It’s expected that the launch of the VeChain THOR platform will boost the value of VEN. The coin currently trades at $5.14 against the US dollar, trading a total of $91 million worth of the token in the last 24 hours. VeChain (VEN) is ranked 15th at the moment with a market cap of $2.7 billion but could climb higher with a big boost like the rumored partnership.